Bentonville dominates at Hot Springs

Six Bentonville girls finished in the top 10 and easily claimed the team title during the Lake Hamilton Invitational held Saturday morning at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort in Hot Springs.

The Lady Tigers finished the meet with 24 points, while Mount St. Mary was a distant second with 88. Greenwood was third at 106, while Russellville (111) and Cabot (130) rounded out the top five teams.

Defending 6A state champion and Tennessee commit Haley Loewe led Bentonville’s strong performance at the 5,000-meter course — the same course that will host the Arkansas cross country championships in early November — with a winning time of 18:16.9. Loewe was almost 50 seconds ahead of teammate Devyn O’Daniel, who took second at 19:05.1.

Ember Chariton, Lily Aicklen, Hannah Hanson and Riley Ammons then took sixth through 10th, respectively, as they all finished within 20 seconds of each other. Carole Werner was Greenwood’s top runner, taking 11th with a time of 20:35.1.

Bentonville’s boys were just as dominant, placing five runners among the top eight and finishing with 25 points. Russellville took second with 115, followed by Bentonville West and Don Tyson School of Innovation with 130 each and Cabot with 135.

Matthew Shelly led Bentonville with his second-place performance as he finished in 15:48.8, less than 7 seconds behind individual winner Joseph Bariola of Hot Springs Lakeside. Eli Seavey, Owen Kelley and Payton Brack finished fourth through sixth, respectively, while James American Horse was eighth.

Sam Gerhardt was Bentonville West’s top runner, finishing 10th at 16:24.8. Pedro Morales led Don Tyson with his 11th-place finish at 16:33.7.